Tuesday, September 7, 2010

This was my overdue--early labor--hospital post-partum project. Since Tess arrived later than expected I found myself with a clean mental slate and the freedom to pick any project next. So I picked this baby bolero pattern from the book, One Skein.

This seemed like the kind of thing I could do quickly, but not anxiously, and it was. I used a skein of yarn from my stash--Reynolds Cabana in yellow (907). This was a yarn my mother had picked out to knit a sweater for her first granddaughter, my niece, and I've had the leftover skein for six years now. It was nice to use it for another of my mother's granddaughters.

I love the sunny yellow color! But I had exactly one skein and ran out so I used a contrast color for the ribbed border in this great Tangerine yarn (Lily SugarN' Cream). I also added a single crochet edging to the sleeves, which I think is a nice finish with the two colors. I love these two colors together. And I'm laughing because I seem to be repeating a similar color palette for Tess!

Well, two color palettes, actually. I've got this one going: tangerine, coral, white and yellow, as in the Heirloom Cut Chenille Baby Blanket I made her. I just purchased fabric for a car seat cover unintentionally in the same colors. And then I have the palette from her crib bedding: linen and lavender. I would actually like to combine these two in her eventual nursery because I love them together!

This color palette thing must be a bit contagious as my good friend, Sue, just gave Tess a darling little one piece Zutano outfit in similar colors. Perfect to coordinate with the sweater!

I realized that I haven't knit anything since making this sweater for Audrey for Christmas! Crazy. I guess I have just been really into crochet. It was nice to get back to knitting and I was glad I didn't seem to have lost too much (phew!).

My favorite thing about this little bolero is the eyelet detail on the back. Difficult to see in these photos but so so cute on the baby--the book shows a picture of a baby all curled up on someone's chest with this little eyelet showing.

The pattern has a great method for adding the ribbing to the bottom, by using waste yarn to cast on in the beginning and then removing it. Loved that! Don't love picking up stitches all along the front and neck. That process is always so slow for me. Also don't love the seams, which in this worsted weight yarn, end up pretty bulky. I'm a huge fan of seamless sweaters and can't wait to get to a few on my list!

I thought even though this sweater is sized for a newborn it would be way too large for my little Tess, but it turns out it's not too far off. Lucky thing as Fall weather seems on the horizon. She could even wear it right now as my little preview demonstrates. Here is sunny Tess in her yellow bolero lying on her Heirloom Blanket. What fun we're going to have!